The instant invention relates to footwear outsoles based upon an elastomeric compound, and more particularly to an anvil for supporting such an outsole during a process of imparting a multiplicity of slits to the outer surface of the heel and sole portions of the outsole, and to a method of imparting the slits.
A person walking over a smooth surface such as stairways, floors, stone or other pavings, or upon the decks of boats, particularly when these surfaces are wet, has a tendency to slip when he is wearing a shoe having a smooth rubber-like sole (outsole). This tendency to slip is caused by a film of water between the sole and the surface which is not squeezed out by the pressure of the foot. Accordingly, smooth rubber-like outsoles have been provided with a multiplicity of slits running transverse of the outsole. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,206,860, assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. The slits from a multiplicity of narrow sections extending in wavy lines across the outsole which increase the flexibility of the outsole, especially when the outsole is under pressure tending to cause the shoe to slip, whereby the section corners tilt upwardly and wipe the surface upon which the shoe rests dry to give the shoe a firm and secure grip upon this dry surface. Thus, relative movement between the shoe and surface is prevented when the pressures of walking generate a tendency to slip.
The multiplicity of slits are conventionally cut now by placing the outsole upside down on a flat anvil and advancing the anvil lengthwise underneath a single cutting blade which reciprocates against the outsole to a predetermined depth as the outsole is advanced. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,284,307, assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. Since the blade can be set to only one cutting depth, and the heel and sole of an outsole are of different heights, the cutting procedure is performed in two separate operations, usually on two different machines, so that the outsole has to be handled twice for the two independent operations.
Accordingly the instant invention provides a novel method and anvil so that the elastomeric outsole can be cut in one continuous operation with one blade depth setting.